1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a fluid heating device using a PTC element and a vehicle fuel system using the same.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, a fluid heating device is a device that heats a moving fluid by an appropriate heat source, which is used in various fields.
In a vehicle, the fluid heating device is used as a fuel heater. The fuel heater preheats fuel to an adequate temperature before supplying the fuel to an internal combustion engine to improve combustion of fuel, cold start performance of the engine, etc.
The fuel heater for the vehicle is installed on a fuel line to preheat diesel fuel, for example.
In the case of flex-fuel vehicles that are fueled by bioethanol (E100), gasoline fuel is used instead of the fuel heater, as well as it is used as start-up fuel, in order to enhance cold start performance of the engine.
That is, startup may be in trouble at an outside temperature below 15° C. because the ignition temperature of bioethanol is 12° C., which is high. To overcome this, attempts are being made to enhance cold start performance by spraying gasoline fuel to the back of the throttle body during engine start-up.
However, a conventional flex-fuel vehicle, which uses gasoline fuel as auxiliary fuel to enhance cold start performance, requires an auxiliary fuel tank for storing gasoline fuel and an auxiliary fuel system including a fuel cap, a fuel pump, etc. Thus, the conventional flex-fuel vehicle is not desirable in terms of vehicle weight, cost, assembly productivity, collision resistance performance, and so on.
The information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.